In this culmination of his life’s work, Peter A. Levine draws on his broad experience as a clinician, a student of comparative brain research, a stress scientist and a keen observer of the naturalistic animal world to explain the nature and transformation of trauma in the body, brain and psyche. In an Unspoken Voice is based on the idea that trauma is neither a disease nor a disorder, but rather an injury caused by fright, helplessness and loss that can be healed by engaging our innate capacity to self-regulate high states of arousal and intense emotions. Enriched with a coherent theoretical framework and compelling case examples, the book elegantly blends the latest findings in biology, neuroscience and body-oriented psychotherapy to show that when we bring together animal instinct and reason, we can become more whole human beings.
The cutting edge of this book is an explanation of why most therapy fails. Therapists think that their positive relationship and verbal insights into the ego alone can help their clients. Levine explains why this is not so. One needs to understand the nervous system and how it works. Understanding of the polyvagal theory is a must for practioners. The book explains that traumatized people cannot even recognize facial expressions of goodness.
As a layperson interested in psychology for spirituality purposes I have read many therapy books. This is written for the practitioner as well as beginning psycholgy student and interested casual reader.
I love the book, it is easy to understand and written in layman's terms. Hats off to Peter Levine who took a complex or technical issue and described trauma processing using words and terms that the average individual (someone without professional training in the subject area) can understand, so that they may comprehend the issue to some degree. Many thanks and blessings to you.